Exploring Mental Health in Academia – Technology Networks

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Social media platforms receive significant scrutiny, often vilified for driving humans apart and creating a sense of “disconnectedness” in the real world. Unarguably there’s a level of truth to this notion.

However, for one community, social media – and one platform in particular – are helping to create a pertinent conversation.

“I do think Twitter makes it easy for people to freely and openly discuss mental health, and the frequency of #MentalHealth and #MentalHealthAwareness tags is indicating that this is in fact true,” OpenAcademics tell me.

OpenAcademics is a Twitter account that has been created with the aim of promoting a healthier academic culture. A representative of OpenAcademics says, “We are mostly highlighting diversity and inclusion, equality and mental health by creating an environment where people can share and discuss, to let them know that they are not alone.”

I’ve witnessed many individuals utilizing these platforms as an outlet to share their personal experiences with mental health in academia. Their stories are often raw, stripped back and emotive. Their words add force to the growing voice that demands change and corroborates the notion that academia is facing a mental health crisis.

Data from the Nature PhD Survey 2019.

Data from the Nature PhD Survey 2019.

OpenAcademics say, “Unfortunately, the academic culture for some reason is blindly looking at quantity of hours rather than quality. Expectations to work long hours and weekends can be difficult to handle as an early career researcher.” How can we look to change this seemingly ingrained perception that more hours equal more success? Del Carpio comments: “I’ve been able to seek out communities and support networks within academia that do validate my decisions to prioritize my mental health while ignoring those who don’t.”

“I changed the culture in my graduate lab by working smarter, not harder,” OpenAcademics add. “My advice would be to find a good supervisor and mentor, surround yourself with people who are understanding and realize the importance of work/life balance.”

Del Carpio eloquently discusses the concept of identity in academic environments: “As scientists, we want to see the world and our work through an objective a lens as possible. But it’s unreasonable to expect that our personal identities and experiences don’t impact our work.”

She wants to share her experiences as a PhD student whilst also acknowledging the human side of being a student that isn’t always publicly shared: “I try to break down the false image that neurodiverse people can’t pursue science unless they can fully compartmentalize their personal lives from their work. I want other early career researchers to know you don’t have to check your identity at the door to be a successful scientist.”

On the topic of identity, I feel it’s imperative to pause here and acknowledge a phenomenon that, unfortunately, many readers may be acquainted with – impostor syndrome. Whilst impostor syndrome is not a clinically diagnosable syndrome, it is being increasingly recognized as a contributor to an individual’s sense of mental wellbeing, and there is fluidity between some of the characteristics associated with impostor syndrome and the symptoms of mental health disorders. In fact, 16% of respondents to the 2019 Nature survey ranked impostor syndrome as a concern, and it was categorized as a “top concern” for respondents in North or Central America.

“Impostor syndrome is rampant in higher education because, whilst there are wonderful aspects of higher education, there are aspects that fuel self-doubt not only in faculty but also in staff,” says Valerie Young, PhD, an internationally-known expert on impostor syndrome.

She adds: “When you look at STEM, people in creative fields and artistic fields such as writing are more susceptible to impostor syndrome because they are being judged by subjective standards. There are people in jobs that are professional critics that have to judge their work. But then also in medicine, or technology for example, these fields are rapidly changing and updated, and so you might feel that you can never keep up to date.”

If you want to know more about impostor syndrome, or are experiencing feelings of impostorizm, The American Psychological Association offers several tips to try and overcome these beliefs on their website, and our article discusses helpful advice from experts.

Jeremy Farrar, Director of Wellcome, said: “These results paint a shocking portrait of the research environment – and one we must all help change. The pressures of working in research must be recognized and acted upon by all, from funders, to leaders of research and to heads of universities and institutions.”

Open Academics add, “Academic working culture can make it difficult to cope with every day “musts”. I feel like academia is getting more and more demanding, where journals are requiring more than ever, which translates to professors putting more pressure on students to “get things done”. These professors have, in my experience, no or only limited training in dealing with mental health issues.”

Undoubtedly, there is so much more to say. There are many contributing factors to poor mental health in academia that are beyond the scope of this piece. It’s clear that the research space needs to both protect, encourage and inspire individuals currently in academia and those considering a future career in academia. It’s clear that now is the time for change.

OpenAcademics, Susanna Harris – PhD Balance and Christina Del Carpio – The Anxious PhD Student, were speaking to Molly Campbell, Science Writer, Technology Networks.

References:
1.       Levecque et al. (2017). Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students. Research Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.02.008.

2.       Liu et al. (2019). Prevalence and associated factors of depression and anxiety among doctoral students: the mediating effect of mentoring relationships on the association between research self-efficacy and depression/anxiety. Psychol Res Behav Manag. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S195131.

3.       H. Stuart. (2016). Reducing the stigma of mental illness. Global Mental Health. DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2016.11.

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